02 | Louisa Lim: Tell It Slant

"Australia can’t afford to turn its back on Asia the way the UK turned its back on Europe. If there is a key to averting such a future, it is for Australians to internalise the fact that we can no longer rely on powerful friends. Creating the conditions for an Australia that stands strong and independent in Asia begins with a simple act of recognition: we must look after ourselves." The Keynote Boyer Lecturer for 2026 is Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute's International Security Program. Sam argues that Australia’s place in the region is being dramatically transformed by three tectonic shifts: the decline of one empire, the rise of another, and the emergence of a powerful neighbour right on Australia’s doorstep. On top of this, he says a fourth potent force is at play: an unmistakeable change in the character of Western liberal democracy, including here in Australia.  This is the beginning of Asia’s post-Western era, says Sam, and how Australia navigates this moment will have consequences for years to come. After the Keynote address, Hamish Macdonald and Geraldine Doogue joined Sam Roggeveen in a lively discussion flowing from the keynote address. Credits: Presented by Sam Roggeveen, Director of the Lowy Institute's International Security Program. Series introduced by Geraldine Doogue and Hamish Macdonald Producer: Taryn Priadko Sound Engineer: Harvey O'Sullivan

In our fifth and final Boyer Lecture for 2025, James Curran, professor of modern history at the University of Sydney, analyses our partnership with the world’s most powerful democracy, the USA, addressing options for how we can deal with, and even construct, a post -American future. In his talk, Professor Curran argues that we need to stop hoping for ‘regional strategic equilibrium' because US primacy is a thing of the past. Instead, we need to look for new solutions within our Asia-Pacific region to secure amity, commerce, and cooperation into the future. “The point is not that we cannot have an independent foreign policy: the point is that it does not need to be articulated by the shaking cans of bully beef or dressing up the Eureka Stockade incident in the borrowed robes of Gettysburg or the storming of the Bastille. We cannot be entirely dependent of the US and China because their actions still have such a powerful influence on us. And we need to retain influence in Washington and Beijing to press the cause of peace.” Credits: Presented by James Curran, professor of modern history at the University of Sydney Series curated and introduced by Dr Julia Baird Executive Producer, Julia Baird Producer, Gail Boserio Sound Engineer, Simon Branthwaite

In the fourth Boyer Lecture for 2025, Amelia Lester, deputy editor at Foreign Policy Magazine in Washington, explores why it is so difficult to have meaningful discussions about the possible repercussions of Artificial Intelligence in all our lives. Given it is being described as possibly more transformative than electricity, even more transformative than fire, and even worthy of threatening our very human nature, what needs to happen? If it seems that we are being carried along a road without return, Amelia begs to differ, arguing that given Australia’s track record in standing up for workers’ rights and human rights puts us in a good place to exercise action against these threats to our very humanness. “A handful of big tech companies control what we know about AI, and because these companies want to consolidate oligopoly control over the AI ecosystem, we’re constantly having to parse what’s factual and what’s hype. But just because AI’s hard to talk about, doesn’t mean we have to resign ourselves to it, or any technology, being harmful to humanity.” Credits: Presented by Amelia Lester, deputy editor at Foreign Policy Magazine in Washington. Series curated and introduced by Dr Julia Baird Executive Producer, Julia Baird Producer, Gail Boserio Sound Engineer, Simon Branthwaite

Larissa Behrendt, AO a Euahleyai/Gamillaroi woman and Distinguished Professor of Law and Inaugural Chair in Indigenous Research at the University of Technology, is passionate about the Australian courts’ record of upholding democracy, but reminds us the legal system has been used to exclude and discriminate against First Nations people. In the third Boyer Lecture for 2025, she presents a three-point remedy to get us past the ‘us and them’ mentality, highlighting the necessity and importance of truth and story-telling and the critical importance of universities, the arts and creative and cultural institutions to forge a truly healthy democracy. Larissa Behrendt also advocates for the inclusion of ancient Indigenous philosophies into our traditional Western liberal traditions, to create a truly inclusive and engaging democracy. “The law is shaped by power. It reflects who has a voice, and who does not. If we want a fairer society, we must ensure the law listens to those too often silenced. And we have to acknowledge that at the heart of the Constitution, there lies an historic and structural wound.” Credits Presented by Larissa Behrendt, AO Series curated and introduced by Julia Baird Executive Producer, Julia Baird Producer, Gail Boserio Sound Engineer, Simon Branthwaite

In the second Boyer Lecture for 2025, the Hon John Anderson, AC, farmer, grazier and former deputy prime minister of Australia, takes a sweeping look over our history and concludes that the liberal world order that has so far defined us, is ending. While such turning points require big and important decisions, what happens to Australia, he understands, is inextricably linked to what happens to the global democratic order. John Anderson argues for the need to counter distrust, disengagement and other pressing social issues, and has found in talking to many young participants in his podcast series, that the views of the young need to be far better respected to foster new Australian leadership. “As the great American economic historian Thomas Sowell put it best, ‘Civilisation doesn’t always sustain itself, it has to be built, maintained, defended, and most importantly understood.’ When that understanding is lost, decline is not just likely, it becomes inevitable. And that’s the illusion we’re living under today – that civilisation is permanent – but it isn’t.” Credits: Presented by Hon John Anderson, AC, farmer, grazier and former deputy prime minister of Australia Series curated and introduced by Dr Julia Baird Executive Producer, Julia Baird Producer, Gail Boserio Sound Engineer, Simon Branthwaite